國立臺灣大學政治科學論叢

Abstract / Chinese PDF Download

In 2018, 12 municipalities in the Kamikawa region of Hokkaido submitted an application for “Japan Heritage” under the title “Kamikawa Ainu in Coexistence with Kamuy: Traditional World of the Gods at the Foot of Mt. Daisetsu”, which was later approved by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the government of Japan. This approval not only means that the Ainu/indigenous culture has been officially recognized as an integral part of Japanese culture overall, but it also marks the recent efforts by the government of Japan to accelerate the promotion of multiculturalism. In view of the importance of such a recognition, this paper examines the case under the framework of Critical Policy Discourse Analysis combined with fieldwork data. The findings demonstrate that the Japanese heritage system attempts to link various cultural resources through “stories”, which break the existing administrative mindset of “preservation” as being the main axis of cultural property. This can be deemed to be truly innovative. However, when viewed from a more critical perspective, it seems clear that the Japanese heritage system is embedded in the discourses of nation-building and economic development, resulting in the Ainu’s “seeminglyvalued but still marginal” position. The paper concludes that while we celebrate the recognition/inclusion of indigenous cultures, we also need to be aware of the danger of further marginalization that accompanies it.